Polenta "Tartlets"

I made these cute little suckers for dinner tonight. The inspiration was an appetizer that I had at Faustina last week. They are muffin-sized polenta bites with goat cheese, tomatoes, chives and parsley over a roasted red pepper sauce. They were a success and super easy to make. I just used a simple polenta recipe made with chicken stock and parmesean cheese, poured it into a buttered muffin tray, made a thumbprint indentation in the middle and chilled until firm (about 2 hours in the fridge). Once set, I put a dollop of goat cheese in the indentation, topped it with quartered cherry tomatoes, and roasted in the oven for 20 min. I then sprinkled them with chives and parsley from my garden. For the roasted red pepper sauce, I blended a 12 oz jar of roasted red peppers (drained), about 1/3 C chicken stock, juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1 garlic clove and a few sprigs of fresh parsley in a food processer until smooth.

When I make these again, I will probably add toasted pine nuts to the goat cheese and bake them longer or sautee them so that the polenta is crispy on the outside. Overall this is a simple treat for anyone who enjoys polenta and an elegant, crowd-pleasing appetizer to serve at any gathering.